Chapter 14 June 25, 2008

Excerpt from the diary of Devonny Winden,

As my past diary entries have proven, I must’ve been a love blinded fool to have lived a lie for this long…

“Devonny, you’re home late,” Lex remarked as he put away the book he was reading .”You missed Bryce’s birthday.”

Devonny tensed up. She had known Bryce’s birthday was today. That was why she had purposely left the house.

“I..I forgot. I had things to do. That’s all. Checking out the neighbourhood.” Devonny replied vaguely as Lex got up and cornered her in the door.

“Is that it? I feel like you’re avoiding me. That’s all.” as he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek.

Devonny could smell the cologne he was wearing that day and it scared her and exhilerated her at the same time.

“I- I’m not. It’s just that you’ve been busy and-”

“That’s a bunch of bullocks and you know it.”

Devonny fell silent. her rose-tinted shades had faded after the recent events. She had been under the illusion that Lex was madly in love with her as she was with him, so she played along. Played the role of a dutiful wife.

“It’s not, I just wanted to check if new houses were sprouting up from the ground,” Devonny tried to joke.

Lex’s entire body stiffened with her comment and Devonny could feel an invisible wall starting to form between them. How dare he try to make as if he was the boss of her! She was her own and nobody else’s!

“It’s not as if you care,” Devonny retorted, “playing around with that bimbo Brandi and getting all cozy with April Scarlett down the road!”

“So now I can’t be friends with either of them? I don’t need to tell you everything I do-”

“So I can’t have my own personal agenda Lex? My world doesn’t revolve around you!”

What happened next was the unthinkable for Devonny. He closed what little distance they had between them and crushed her lips with his.

“Stop- it!” Devonny panted as she struggled weakly against him. She couldn’t bring herself to refuse him. She was hopelessly in love with him despite the one-sided affection.

He chuckled against her neck. “You don’t really want me to stop do you?”

Devonny couldn’t think straight as Lex lifted her up easily and set her gently on the bed. She instinctively backed up from him as he got closer and pushed against him as he pinned her to the bed with his weight.

“Despite everything I do care about you Devonny. I care about you enough that I won’t let someone else have you.” he whispered in her ear.

Devonny’s heart rammed frantically in her ribcage. This was the closest to a love confession she had heard from Lex, and she knew it was from his heart and not a mechanical response like it was right after their rushed wedding.

“So where we?” Lex said as he fondled the hem of her shirt, and Devonny knew at that moment, as she instinctively held him closer, she would give him everything and more.

—

Devonny woke up around 6 AM to the sound of Bryce screaming from his crib. She hastily pulled on her pjs that had been strewn all over the bed and walked to the nursery to let him out of his crib.

As soon as Bryce was free from the crib he crawled over to play with his toys. Devonny felt slightly sick as she rubbed her stomach nervously. They hadn’t used protection, so what if she was…? The thought was interrupted as she was overdue to bring her offerings to the porcelain God.

Oh no… it can’t be..

And so it was. As Devonny went to bed, she realized she was pregnant once again.

A house doctor was hired to visit Devonny daily as she could not leave the house because she had to take care of Bryce.

It was hard on Devonny to be both pregnant and responsible for Bryce. Bryce demanded constant attention and Devonny found herself hating all Winden men. The older one was never anywhere to be found, whereas the younger one needed her constantly.

She couldn’t take waking up at 3 AM to a screaming hungry Bryce anymore and was forced to call a nanny to keep her own health intact.

Devonny found herself wishing the nanny would stay forever. Not only did she take care of all of Bryce’s needs, the nanny was kind enough to wash the dishes and clean the counters. But it was a luxury they could not afford, according to Lex. They were low on funds and with the arrival of a new baby, they would have to expand the nursery to accommodate for both children.

She tried to pay attention to Bryce, but she couldn’t bring herself to help him with the necessary skills for life. Every time she looked at Bryce, the question, “Where is Lex?” haunted her mind. After a couple more business related dinner parties, and when the dust settled on Lex’s new contract, Lex started to stay home more and help around the house.

Lex didn’t mind taking time out of his busy schedule to teach Bryce how to talk, something that made Devonny happy and restless. It was good that he wanted to spend time with Bryce and help out with the child-rearing, but she found herself fighting with her own son for Lex’s attention.

Lex had taken over the primary care duties for Bryce soon after, and the first thing he did when he returned from work was go to the nursery room and spend time with Bryce. As a result, Devonny was absent for most of Bryce’s toddler years.

During the times when Lex was at work, Bryce played with his toys. The one he enjoyed in particular was the one that talked back to him when he pulled its ear or smacked it. Bryce spent a good portion of his toddler years like that.

—

Six and a half months later…

“MOOOOMMMY!!”

“Lex.. Lex.. Bryce’s up again can you go get him?”

“Buh mrrf unnn…”

Devonny sighed as she got out of bed and went to tend to Bryce’s needs. As she got up from bed the baby in her stomach gave a small kick and she winced as she made her way down the hallway.

She was lifting Bryce out of the cradle when she caught a glimpse of a human shadow outside the window. Eyebrows raised, she held Bryce to her as she peered out the window. Huh, perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. She could hear Lex starting to get out of bed and enter the bathroom to take his morning shower.

Bryce however wanted to be free and squirmed in Devonny’s hold, he flailed his arms and legs and a stray kick had kicked Devonny’s huge belly. Devonny nearly dropped Bryce on the ground when the wash of pain came on her.

She gave a sharp gasp and a small cry of pain as she tried not to scare Bryce, but her legs started to wobble and she held on to Bryce tighter.

“Mommy?” Bryce’s small voice entered her hazed mind as he chewed nervously on his thumb.

Devonny couldn’t hold him any longer as her legs crumbled and she hit the wall and dropped Bryce luckily on his tush.

Bryce not knowing what was happening gave a scream of fright at the sudden drop and at Devonny as she started to give sharp gasps of pain. He started to wail which had Lex come running into the nursery, in his boxers and his work sweater.

“What’s going o- holy mother of God Devonny!”

Devonny ignored Lex as she focused on breathing properly as she was instructed to by the doctors.

Lex quickly scooped Bryce into his arms and hid Bryce’s face in his shoulder and tried to calm both Bryce and himself. He wasn’t present for Bryce’s birth but whatever pre-notions he had about birth, it definitely wasn’t anything like this!

Lex reacted to the second scream Devonny gave as he bolted out the room with Bryce in his arms and ran to the phone.

“Hello?”

” Dr. Emonds, Devony just entered labour and I don’t know what to do, the ambulance won’t get here in time-”

“Hold on, so Devonny’s in labour?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll be over immediately.”

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Emonds arrived and five hours later Devonny gave birth to a healthy girl. Devonny lay deathly pale on the bed as Dr. Emonds held the newly born child in her arms.

“What will you name her Mr. Winden?” Dr. Emonds asked as she cleaned the baby off.

Lex was at a loss for names. He and Devonny hadn’t discussed any possible names prior to this, and he wasn’t sure if Devonny even had a name in mind.

“I’ll give you some time to think about it while I go wipe the baby dry.” Dr. Emonds said as she entered the bathroom with the baby.

“Lex?” Devonny’s voice was barely audible over the wailing of the newborn.

“Yes?” Lex rushed over to her bedside.

“Do you have a name in mind? You can name this one since I named Bryce.” she said as she trailed off. “I’m tired so I’m going to sleep.”

“Do you have a name Mr. Winden?” Dr. Emonds asked as she returned with the baby.

Lex looked at the baby as Dr. Emonds held the baby. She was beautiful, it was no mistaking it. She had inherited her mother’s beauty. Now he finally understood how Helen of Troy had created the Trojan War.

“Yes,” Lex replied. “Helena. Helena Winden.”

“Daddy? Whas’ going on?” Bryce asked as he woke up from Lex’s shoulder.

“You have a younger sister Bryce. Her name’s Helena.”

“Is Mommy okay?” Bryce asked as he sleepily rubbed his eyes.

“Mommy will be okay soon Bryce,” Lex replied as he patted Bryce’s head comfortingly.

—-

The days passed as Devonny recovered slowly. At the end of the first week, she went to go visit Helena in her crib. When she noticed there was still only one crib.

“Lex?” she called as she held Helena in her arms.

“Yes?” Lex shouted back. He was working out again from the sounds of it.

“Don’t we need another crib for well, Helena?”

“We’re expanding the nursery and bringing it downstairs tomorrow! For now they’ll have to share!” and he went back to working out.

Devonny sighed as she placed Helena back into the crib and wondered where Bryce was. Probably getting into oodles of trouble. The kid was more trouble than he was worth!

So I’m back to where I started.